Enduring By: Duke Rohe

Enduring is not a skill we readily run to for it pushes us out of our familiar zone. Yet, enduring is a necessary ingredient for the completion of our faith. It is the act of taking a holy promise and hanging on to it until it is fully baked. Enduring lasts longer than the challenge; it has a fight-to-the-death mentality. Enduring is measured by the value of its fulfillment, not the time and energy it takes to see it through. Enduring is fueled by its vision.

If the source of enduring is mere human, it can only do what great humans can do. If it is powered by God Himself, it can do what no man can do. Enduring is a price paid for loving. It takes the wounds, the rejection, the fears and calls on God to fill the gap. Enduring is not a place of permanence, but one of passage. It doesn’t count the costs; it just stays the course. Enduring is sticking to a promise, keeping a conviction, standing for what is right. Enduring is the little engine that could…the spouse who stood…the prodigal’s father who waited.

Enduring reminds us that we are mere humans who need help from the Author of Life. Enduring is hope in action. It is the testimony that Jesus is enough. It stretches our lack by His sufficiency and doesn’t settle for half-measures. It never takes a compromised path because short-circuited enduring returns to be endured another day. Enduring learns to rest with the Best, grow with the Great, and leap in the Light. Our enduring is Father-fashioned for our good. We wouldn’t pay a quarter to go through it again, but we wouldn’t take a million dollars for its lessons!